Another Holiday Survival Tip
Here's another holiday survival tip: A good offense is the best defense. In other words, keep your own low carb, sugar free treats on hand.
* Keep a few envelopes of Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa in your desk or purse. All you need is water and a microwave, and you'll have a chocolate treat with just 4 grams of carb. (Don't buy the Swiss Miss Sugar Free; for some weird reason it has more carb than the diet.) Because it's hot and you have to sip it slowly, it'll last you for at least ten minutes or so, a whole lot longer than those Christmas cookies would. And unlike sugar-free candy, the cocoa mix has no maltitol, so you won't embarrass yourself in front of your boss.
* That said, this would be a very good time to keep some sugar-free candy on hand. A square or two of dark chocolate, a couple of sugar-free Reese's, or Russel Stover sugar-free English toffee can really help keep you on track.
* Everybody else is baking this time of year, why not you? Go ahead and make some sugar-free, flourless Christmas cookies. I like to make a few different varieties, and store 'em in a snap-top container in the freezer. (Okay, one of the freezers. I have a truly ridiculous wealth of freezer space. Be nice to me; I have space to store bodies.) They stay fresh all month, and when I want a cookie I can pull them out and grab just a couple. But having to trot downstairs and pull them out of the basement freezer slows me down.
* Which leads to another tip: Put it in a high place. When my sister was a tiny girl, and our mother put something off limits that Kim just found too enticing to resist, she'd ask Mom to "put it in a high place." Out of sight, out of mind. Repeated studies have demonstrated that if the sugary junk is sitting out where it can easily be grabbed, people will eat far more than if they have to go into a cabinet or freezer. If your office mate has a bowl of Christmas candy on her desk, ask her if she can put it in a drawer, or otherwise out of your line of sight.
* If you're in one of those offices where everyone takes turns bringing in a treat during the holidays, you have two options, other than looking for a new job, not a good idea in this economy: You can bring sugar-free cookies, cheesecake, or the like, and blow everyone away with just how scrumptious this stuff can be. Or, if you don't care to put that much effort or expense into it, or you know your office mates would be unreasonably prejudiced against your yummy homemade sugar-free treats, buy something you don't like. (You'll notice this is the same strategy I offered regarding Halloween candy.) If it were me, I'd get pepparkakor or gingerbread men, about which I could not care less.
More coming up!
